Smart Collaboration

Preface

Why are some teams so much better—or worse—than others at

using experts’ knowledge to crack tough problems?

I first became intrigued by this question when I was a management

consultant for McKinsey & Company in London, Johannesburg,

and New York. At McKinsey, we approached nearly every client

engagement with a team. Many of my teammates had not just solid

business training but also fascinating backgrounds— astrophysicists,

medical doctors, former lawyers, and military officers—that gave

them unique perspectives on our work. But on multiple occasions,

I wound up asking myself very similar questions: Is this collab-

oration producing exemplary results? Are we integrating all our

unique knowledge to create a whole that is more than the sum ...